Who does Stedman hang out with? "Why atheists should care about transgender issues: A conversation with Kayley Whalen" seems to imply that atheists don't care about transgender issues. We don't? I don't know how many atheists Stedman interacts with on a regular basis but I can't imagine it is many or somehow he's defied probability by finding only the shallowest and self absorbed individuals among atheists. I can't think of any atheists I'm familiar with who do not firmly support basic civil/human rights. I'm not aware of any of those I know making any exceptions based on gender/gender identity, I certainly don't.
The first sentence of this piece says more about Stedman than the rest of us.
"The atheist community has been struggling with sexism for years."
We have? There have been a few incidents that got a decent amount of attention but that demonstrates the opposite. As a whole, there is far less sexism among atheists than virtually any other demographic. When incidences do occur we address them. Many of the arguments surrounding "elevatorgate" were rather superficial and failed to note clear signs that we do take such things serious. Lots of individuals and groups were quick to condemn sexual harassment and sexism in general. Why start with such a bogus and insulting claim? Why not start with something more along the lines of "...though atheists are active in combating sexism we can and should do more..."
It is not just that Stedman has once again pulled crap straight out of his pompous ass, the content of the interview also doesn't match the piece's title. There is very little in Kayley Whalen's answers that indicate hostility or even ambivalence toward transgender individuals coming from atheists. Among the most critical bits I noticed was: "I know many other atheists and Humanists in the transgender community, but not very many who are as passionate as me about building atheist community." Is this what Stedman is referring to in the title? Overall, it sounds like Whalen has been accepted and given support. But, hey, it's typical of Stedman to exaggerate or fabricate "issues" within the atheist community.
No comments:
Post a Comment